Ready and raring for the Sh*tbox Rally

TAMMY Lee was 29 when she was first diagnosed with cervical cancer - something she says changed her life for the better.

Twenty-one years later and the Beachmere resident is still in remission, despite a recent tumour scare when a growth formed on the site of her original cancer.

It was cut out and turned out to be benign, but Tammy said it was a stark reminder to live life to its fullest.

"I was in remote NT at the time (I was diagnosed) and I had to travel to and from Darwin when my daughter was only four, and it was scary,” Tammy said.

"The first week all I did was vomit and cry; vomiting because of the worry and concern thinking about my daughter and rest of it,” she said.

Tammy lost her mother to lung cancer and one of her high school friends has just started chemotherapy for bowel cancer.

Now she's gearing up for her second Shitbox Rally where she'll drive a car worth less than $1000 3800km from Adelaide, through Northern Territory and up to Cairns for Cancer Council research.

"It did bring it all back, but it has the other effect on me now. I just think to enjoy life and make the most of it,” she said.

"That's why I do this - it's so dear to my heart.”

Strangers in groups of 10 cars will drive through the centre of Australia with paramedic and bush mechanics on hand as they aim to raise $25,000.

Tammy is driving a 1998 Peugeot 406 that she picked up for $650 with co-driver and fellow Happy Hikers member Lew King.

She said she painted the car green to get more attention, but the theme of the car had taken a quirkier change.

"I wanted to spray it lime green, because the brighter the more media attention I'll get for my sponsors,” she said. "It looked like a frog and the French eat frogs' legs so we called it The Froggle Box, kind of ran with that theme.”

You can donate at www.shitboxrallyau-2017. everydayhero.com/au/happy -hikers.